Another competition is upon us! The NHK Trophy is the last of the GP series before the Grand Prix Final and I am super excited!

In other news, CBC has reported that the ISU will use the standings from the SP as the final standings to calculate who gets into the GPF. This means that my predictions have completely gone into the garbage for TEB but in all honesty, I’m just glad that the skaters are safe. My continued thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by all of the terrible acts of terrorism around the world.

And now, back to our regular programming of predictions for this year’s NHK Trophy. More

Shocked. Heartbroken. Devastated. Words cannot describe my sadness over the events of last Friday in Paris, and as many have noted, the violence that is going on all around the world. I don’t know if there’s much I can say to help or improve the situation at all but I’ll share a quote from the late Jack Layton, a famous Canadian politician and just an all-around decent guy.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

In the wake of the tragedy, I’ll spare a bit of space here to say, don’t just pray for Paris, think. Use your head to light the dark corners of ignorance and sweep away the webs of misunderstanding that divide us. Use your heart to feel the pain of all those affected – Parisians, Lebanese, refugees – and remember that at the end of the day, we’re all just people trying to find happiness in the life that we’re dealt.

Moving onto the debrief on TEB, I guess I should start with the news that, as far as I know and from news articles, it seems that the ISU is still in the midst of making a decision on how to treat the results of TEB in terms of whether or not skaters qualify for the Grand Prix Final. Day 2 of TEB was cancelled in the wake of the attacks as France began a three day period of mourning. There were quite a few surprises in the short program and if the results of the SP become the final rankings then my predictions were completely and utterly wrong. Nonetheless, whatever they decide, let’s take a look at what went on last weekend. More

The last GP event before the Grand Prix Final is upon us! I’m not sure if I should cheer for the fact that the roster is half decent or if I should down some shots because there will be a lot of Phantom of the Opera programs this weekend. In any case, onwards as I attempt to predict the podium for each event for the NHK Trophy! More